


Under a Burning Sky

by inkbetweenthekeys



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Coming of Age, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Smut, F/M, Female Reader, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining, Reader-Insert, Romance, Slow Burn, Yearning, follows events of canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-17 06:40:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29467389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkbetweenthekeys/pseuds/inkbetweenthekeys
Summary: In the year 847, you joined the 104th cadet corps, with the intention of joining the garrison when training was done. What you didn't bargain for was the friendships you would make along the way, the decision that would change your life, and a certain brown-haired boy by the name of Jean.
Relationships: Jean Kirstein/Reader
Comments: 6
Kudos: 60





	1. Children of Trost

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! This is a reader insert fanfic but I find using Y/N clunky so I changed it slightly to make the name 'Yin' with your last name simply being 'Reader'. Hope that's ok, enjoy reading!

You shifted uncomfortably underneath the heat of the midday sun. The air was dry and dusty and you blinked, trying to remain focused on the words of the tall man at the front of the trainees gathered row by row.

“You are now officially members of the training unit number one hundred and four!” the man shouted, sunlight shining off his bald head. “Unfortunately for you, I, Keith Shadis, will be in charge. I’m not here to give you a warm welcome.” Well, that much was evident by all his yelling. There was an obvious anger in this man that you hoped you’d never find yourself on the receiving end of.

“All of you are now merely livestock, waiting to be eaten by the Titans. You’re even worse than livestock! For the next three years, I’ll train you useless shits. I’ll teach you how to fight the Titans! When you face a Titan in three years, will you still be just food?” He continued on a rant about your purpose as soldiers, and though you tried hard to pay attention, having to stand under the heat made your attention wander. You had no intention of facing any Titans anyway, so why bother? A fly buzzed past and you swatted it away in annoyance. Hopefully this speech wouldn’t drag on and you’d be able to leave the training ground in search of some shade soon.

Out of the corner of your eye you sneaked glances at the other recruits, people you’d be spending the next few years living with. To your left, a short boy with a gray buzzcut, eyes glazed over. At least you weren’t the only one not listening. To your right, a friendly looking blonde guy with distinctive sideburns, bouncing on his feet with nervous energy.

As you turned your attention back to Shadis, you noted a boy in the row in front of you. He was standing tall, his posture tense and fierce. When Shadis’ speech finally came to an end and you all gave the salute, his was by far the most forceful, chin jutted out defiantly. Weird.

Shadis started making his way through the rows of recruits, barking out insults. You tried to stand still as he slowly descended down the line from your left, getting closer and closer, despite the urge to wriggle about in the itchy new uniform you had been given. He paused in front of a tall boy with light brown hair and a cocky grin on his face.

“Who the hell are you?” Shadis demanded, obviously irritated by the boy’s expression.

“I’m Jean Kirstein, from Trost, sir!” you heard the reply. You blinked in surprise. Trost was your hometown too. As subtly as you could, you turned your head to look the boy up and down. He didn’t look familiar, but Trost was a big place after all.

“What are you here for?”

“To join the military police brigade and reside in the Inner District, sir,” Jean replied, in a smug voice. 

“I see. So you wanna live in the Inner District?” Shadis narrowed his eyes. You had a feeling Jean should stop talking.

He nodded. “Yes, sir.”

Without warning, Shadis bent forward and smacked his head into Jean’s forehead. With a small groan of pain, Jean crumpled to the ground, clutching his head in agony. As Shadis rose again, you quickly snapped back to attention, not wanting him to catch you staring unless you came in for the same punishment.

“Who gave you permission to sit?” Shadis shouted, causing everyone nearby to wince. “If you can’t even handle that, you’ll never be able to make it into the Military Police Brigade!”

Leaving Jean in the dirt, Shadis moved to the next cadet beside you. You risked a glance and saw Jean halfheartedly pick himself up, rubbing his forehead resentfully. He caught your glance and gave you a rueful smile. Embarrassed to have been seen watching him, you quickly stood back in position, and not a moment too soon.

Done with berating the buzzcut kid about his salute, Shadis moved onto you. You tried to hide the gulp that rose in your throat at the sight of him towering over you. “Speak up! What’s your name then?” he growled.

“Yin Reader, sir!” you said, fighting to keep your voice steady. It wouldn’t do to show any fear of the instructor if you were supposed to be preparing to face Titans, enemies a thousand times more terrible. You tried to look him in the eye but the sun was glaring down behind him so you just ended up squinting at him.

Shadis sneered. “What gutter did you crawl out from?”

Though the question irritated you - you looked perfectly presentable in your own opinion - you kept your tone polite as you told him you were from Trost district.

“Seems there’s an abundance of ugly brats in Trost these days,” said Shadis, looking back at Jean in disgust. “And now you’ve been palmed off into my hands! I suppose they think I’m some kind of babysitter for their shitty kids?” He spat on the ground. Well, it was better than spitting on your face you supposed. You wouldn’t put it past him.

Shadis opened his mouth again, presumably to continue his rant about useless brats, but his eyes flickered to something behind you and he abruptly moved away. Releasing a sigh of relief at your good fortune, you looked around to see what had distracted him.

A girl with reddish brown hair clasped in a ponytail was a couple of rows behind you. There was a contented smile on her face as she bit into a potato. A potato?!

You gaped as she chewed it absent-mindedly, not noticing Shadis stalking over to her, his shoulders hunched in anger. Where on earth had she got a potato from? And why was she eating it now, of all times? Your stomach let out a small whine at the sight.

When the instructor asked what the hell was going on, the girl happily told him that she had seen the potato in the kitchen and decided to take it. You exchanged an astonished look with the kid next to you (his name was Connie, you remembered) at the girl’s brazen lack of remorse. If Shadis turned that look of utter repulsion on you, you’d probably pass out, but the girl just grinned, not even bothering to wipe away the stray crumbs from her lips.

Not understanding the commander’s silence to be deep shock at having so little respect for his authority, the girl cheerily offered him half the potato. At that, you had to clap a hand over your mouth to prevent yourself from laughing.

Growing more irritated, Shadis grabbed the potato from the girl and threw it angrily to the ground, grinding it into the dirt with the heel of his boot. She looked at him, aghast.

“Sir, that was a perfectly good potato!” she said in indignation. “If you didn’t want your half, you could have just given it back to me!”

Shadis finally snapped, and started yelling at the girl in earnest, his anger pushing him past the level of insults he had been doling out earlier to pure rage. You winced in sympathy.

“You will run laps across this training ground until you drop!” Shadis shouted. “No breaks! You will run until nightfall if that’s what it takes to beat some respect into you!”

“Okay, sir,” she sighed, still looking mournfully at the remains of the potato.

“And no meals!” Shadis said, turning away.

Her head whipped up. “Wait a minute! Sir! You’re joking, right?”

The look he gave her was ice cold. “I never joke.” 

Sasha crumpled to her knees, releasing the keening sound of a wounded animal as Shadis left her and walked back to the front of the rows of cadets. “Dismissed!” he barked angrily, then turned on his heel and left with the other superiors. “And start running!” he called over his shoulder.

As your fellow cadets broke rank and began to head over to the barracks, you stood still for a moment, hesitating. Then you turned around and walked over to the potato girl, still crumpled on the ground.

“Hey there, are you okay?” you asked, tentatively resting a hand on her back and looking around to make sure none of the superiors were watching you.

The girl looked up, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. “Did he really say I don’t get any food?” she asked, eyes wide and mournful.

“Well, I’m sure you’ll get some later,” you tried to comfort her half-heartedly. “But I think he’ll get angry if he looks over and sees you still sitting down...it might be better if you started running.”

She nodded, steeling her nerves and pulling herself up. “I’m Sasha, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you Sasha, I’m Yin,” you smiled, remembering the manners your mother had carefully taught you. “Are you sure you’ll be okay? Running until you drop is a harsh punishment, maybe I could talk to the instructor,” you suggested, though the thought of going to him with such a request made you cringe. He’d probably make you run right beside her.

“If I can eat afterwards, I can run a thousand miles,” Sasha said, a strange light in her eyes, and obviously spurred on by the temptation of a meal she took off running without further ado. Most of the other cadets had left the ground by now, and she cast a solitary figure as she sprinted into the distance. You watched her for a minute, before following the other cadets inside.

***

You had a couple of hours to settle into the barracks before dinner. All the girls in the 104th south division were sharing a dorm together, and you ended up sharing a bunk bed with a quiet dark-haired girl who introduced herself as Mikasa. She wanted the bottom bunk, so you eagerly claimed the top, enjoying the novelty of sitting so high up. However, when it came to making the bed, you realised having the mattress so high up put you at significant disadvantage. By the time you had finished, changed into casual clothes, and put away some of your belongings, people were already filtering through to the mess hall to eat.

As you followed the others, you glanced out of the window. The sun was beginning to set, layering the horizon in hazy red and pink streaks. The silhouette of someone running stood out against it, and you bit your lip in sympathy. Perhaps you could save some food for Sasha.

The mess hall was abuzz with people. You went over to where food was being served and took a bowl of soup and a bread roll, before looking around anxiously. People were already splitting off into groups, gathered round tables and laughing together. Neither option of sitting by yourself or inserting yourself into someone else’s conversation was appealing, but thankfully you were saved as a voice called your name.

You glanced around in confusion, and saw the tall boy who had been hit by Shadis waving at you. “Yin, come sit here!” he called. He was at a table with a few other boys, caught up in their own conversation.

Nervous, you walked across the room and took the seat opposite him, setting your food down gently. “Jean, right?” He was dressed smartly compared to most people here, in a white shirt and dark waistcoat, though his hair was still messy from standing out in the wind. It looked kind of adorable.

He nodded, grinning. His smile was easy, relaxed, and instantly your nerves dissipated. “I remembered you told Shadis you’re from Trost too. Whereabouts do you live?”

You described the small street you lived on nearby the wall to Jean. It turned out he lived on the other side of the Trost, but the area sounded familiar.

“Near the plaza with the weekend market?” you asked curiously.

“Yeah!” said Jean, accidentally slopping some of his soup onto the table in the midst of his enthusiasm. “Do you go often?”

“I try to go at least once a month,” you nodded. It was a useful place to pick up little household necessities, and the colourful stalls and bustling atmosphere never failed to lift your spirits, even when times were hard.

“I go most weeks; my mother sometimes sells food there and she makes me help,” Jean tells you, rolling his eyes.

“Oh, really? What kind of food does she make?” you ask, dipping your bread roll into your soup and taking a bite. It wasn’t half bad - the bread was a little stale but the soup was warm and spicy. Then you remembered you had intended to save some food for Sasha and quickly put it down - hopefully she wouldn’t be too offended if you offered her a roll that already had a bite out of it.

Jean shrugged. “Whatever, really, depending on what ingredients she had. The woman was annoying, but I’ll give it to her that she can cook.”

You looked at him sternly as you carefully wrapped the roll in a napkin. “You shouldn’t talk about your mother that way, Jean.”

Jean looked startled for a second, then burst out laughing. His chuckle was infectious and you couldn’t help letting out a low snort yourself.

“You looked so serious!” Jean said, hand over his mouth to hide his grin. “You had me scared for a second there.”

“Only half serious,” you said, smiling. “Everyone gets annoyed with their parents sometimes. We’re not going to see them again for ages though.” A knot of anxiety twisted in your stomach as you thought of your own mother. Hopefully you had made the right choice in joining the cadets, for the both of you. Hopefully you would get to see her again, before she was taken from you.

A crowd was gathering at the table next to you, and you looked over curiously. It seemed the star of attention was the boy you had seen earlier with the eager salute. Jean shot you a curious glance and you both leaned in to listen.

The boy - Eren, you heard someone call him - was recounting the day Shiganshina fell to the Titans. You couldn’t believe one of your fellow cadets had actually been there to experience the attack. Safely inside Wall Rose, the Titans had always seemed like a distant threat, although the loss of Wall Maria had struck a secret chord of fear into most people’s hearts.

You expected Eren to be reluctant to recall the traumatic experience, but he surprised you. “Titans aren’t such a big deal,” he said casually, biting into his bread with a shrug. A feeling of awe washed over you as he talked of how he would kill them all. Maybe Titans weren’t that fearsome after all, if he could be so unafraid after facing them.

“Dude, are you nuts?” a voice interrupted, and you stared as Jean leaned over to Eren. “Did you just say you want to join the Survey Corps?”

“Damn straight,” Eren replied, his shoulders set, and you felt tension brewing in the air. “And you’re planning to join the Military Police Brigade and take it easy, right?” His words were scathing and you sensed Jean’s hackles rising up.

“I think that’s preferable to acting when tough when you’re actually scared shitless,” he retorted, cocking an eyebrow.

“Jean!” you hissed, looking at Eren worriedly.

The other boy's fist was clenched in anger as he stood up. “You got something to say?”

Jean stood too, going toe to toe with Eren. Boys were so stupid sometimes, you thought angrily. Hearing people shouting at each other took you back to a time you’d rather not remember. You were also annoyed that your conversation with Jean had got interrupted, and you didn’t want to get into trouble if a fight broke out so you stormed off back to the dorm, not bothering to finish your meal. 

A couple of girls were already in their dorm, one sniffling by herself in the corner. You sighed. Perhaps spending your first night here with the cadets who would probably get back on the wagon home the next morning wasn’t the smartest thing to do. But on the other hand, the red flush of anger at Jean still lingered and you didn’t want to go back into the mess hall just to see him scrapping with Eren.

Luckily, salvation came in the form of three girls trooping in - or rather, two girls, and another slung over the taller one’s back.

“Sasha!” you said, going over to them as the tall girl tipped Sasha into the bunk by the door that hadn’t yet been claimed. “Is she alright?” You pulled out the roll of bread, unwrapping it from the napkin. “I brought this -”

Before you could finish talking, a hand reached out and snatched the roll from your hands. You blinked as Sasha shoved it in her mouth and moaned in relief. It looked like she had been asleep, but the food had revived her.

“Geez, how many soft idiots are there here?” the tall girl said, rolling her eyes. “Krista already gave her some bread.”

“Oh, hey!” you said to the blonde girl, presumably Krista. “I’m Yin!”

“Nice to meet you!” she said, giving you a warm smile. “This is Ymir.”

“What are you doing in here?” Ymir asked bluntly. “Waiting for Sasha?”

“No,” you said, glancing towards the door. “A couple of the guys were arguing and I didn’t want to see a fight on my first night here.”

“Really?” said Krista, brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes. “It all looked calm when we passed by just now.”

You frowned. It had looked like Jean and Eren were close to blows. But perhaps they had worked it out.

“Ugh, who cares, that’s boys for you. Idiots!” Ymir declared, flopping down next to Sasha who was happily munching on the roll. “I don’t blame you for wanting to get away.” 

You laughed as you sat down on the opposite bed, next to Krista. “Yes. Nothing but trouble.” But as you chatted with the other girls until people started walking back in to get ready to bed, you found you couldn’t quite shake the memory of Jean’s smile from your head.


	2. It Takes Balance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jean and Yin begin ODM training.

Something was poking at your nose. Eyes still tightly shut, you huffed and tried to wriggle deeper under the blankets, away from the ticklish sensation. Whatever was touching you seemed to relent and give up, and you gave a contented sigh, preparing to slip back into the comfort of sleep.

Suddenly a chill ran its fingers along your spine, as the sheets were ruthlessly torn from your grasp. You sat up with a gasp, eyes flying open, to see Mikasa staring at you.

“It’s time to wake up,” she said, in her usual even tone, before ducking back down to make her bunk. You sighed, stretching your limbs tiredly and hopping out of bed. Glancing around the room you could see that most people were just beginning to stir, yawns and groans filling the air. The sun was only just beginning to rise over the horizon and you guessed most of your fellow cadets weren’t used to waking so early.

“Thanks for waking me up, I could have slept for years,” you smiled sheepishly at Mikasa, as you headed towards the showers together. She didn’t say anything in response, but you were already getting used to the quiet nature of your bunkmate. If she didn’t like you, she wouldn’t have bothered to wake you up.

The stalls were lined up in a row, luckily separated by thin curtains to maintain some modesty. There was only time for a short shower, the freezing water effectively eradicating any trace of sleepiness that remained. It seemed hot water was a privilege that cadets weren’t entitled to.

Quickly toweling yourself dry and tugging your clothes back on, you headed back to the dorm and pulled out your carefully folded gear for the first official day of training. You knew that sharing a room with so many other cadets meant privacy was thrown out the door, but you still surreptitiously looked around to make sure no one was watching as you pulled your nightshirt and pants off, slipping on fresh underwear and wrapping a cloth around your chest to keep your breasts secure during training. Then you wriggled into the white pants, stretchy and comfortable. They matched the white shirt you buttoned up next, which was clearly a hand me down from a past recruit. It was scratchy and worn thin, having obviously been through the wash many times. Next was the light brown jacket worn by all branches of the military, emblazoned with the grey logo of two crossed swords to show your cadet status. Finally, you tugged on the knee high leather boots, admiring them as you put them on. They were comfortable and sturdy, a much better quality than the worn canvas ones you had used for years back home.

You could hear Shadis outside, yelling into the boy’s dorm for everyone to hurry up. He would be here in a second and you tied your hair up out of your face as quickly as you could. Everyone else was panicking too, Ymir still only half-dressed and Mikasa trying to run a brush through her hair, which she had cropped short last night with a rusty pair of scissors.

The door burst open and Sasha ran in, her arms full of food. She dropped the bounty onto one of the bunks, her heaving breaths suggesting she had narrowly been caught nicking it from somewhere. “I got breakfast for everyone!” she said excitedly, already stuffing a slice of toast into her mouth, and you gave her a friendly squeeze as thanks as you picked up a green apple, munching through it as quickly as possible. It was juicy and fresh, a lot better than the poor quality food you could afford back home.

You threw the core out of the window into one of the sparse bushes where it could decompose, and not a moment too soon. Everyone scurried to the bunks, hastily stuffing all traces of food out of sight as Shadis burst in.

“What are you lot doing, standing around?” he yelled. “You all should have been outside ready to start training ten minutes ago. If we’re attacked, you have to be ready at a moment’s notice! There’s no time for you to eat, I suggest tomorrow you all wake up earlier, or you’ll be missing out on breakfast again!”

A few people gave a halfhearted groan, pretending to rub their stomachs in hunger. Shadis looked suspicious at the lack of reaction, but stormed out again with questioning it. Sasha was certainly the hero of the hour for making sure you had all been fed, and she beamed at the quiet thanks and claps on the back from the other girls in the room as you all traipsed out towards the training ground.

The boys were outside already, having encountered Shadis’ wrath first. After you all completed running a few laps of the grounds to warm up, Shadis led everyone over to the ODM training area. There were several posts set up, and everyone moved into small groups to huddle around one. A gentle nudge poked at your shoulder, and looking up you saw Jean had joined your group. You smiled at him quickly, tucking a stray strand of hair behind your ear, before looking up at the training equipment. Three tall beams were leant towards each other, joined at the top, with wires hanging down. For each group, a pile of belts and straps were laid on the ground, and you recognised them as te gear the maneuver gear attached to on a soldier’s body.

“First your aptitude will be tested,” Shadis announced. “Those who fail are not even worthy to serve as bait. Failures will be sent to the reclaimed lands!”

A spike of nerves settled over you. If you couldn’t even manage this basic training, you would be sent home, and your hopes of joining the garrison would be dashed. It simply wasn’t an option.

He continued explaining the training exercise as your group began to get geared up with straps that made up the harness, which would become a standard part of your uniform after today. You pulled the sash around your hips easily, but tying all the complicated cords to the right place was confusing, and you found yourself lagging behind, trying to listen to Shadis’ instructions at the same time.

“Here, let me help with that,” someone whispered, and you turned to see Jean, his gear already all in perfect place, straps tied tightly across his torso and legs. You stood obediently still as his hands brushed your waist, untangling one of the places the straps had gotten crossed, tying it correctly in the right place. “Too tight?” he asked.

You twisted your hips and your arms, getting used to the feeling of the gear. “No, it’s great, thank you,” you whispered, and he gave you a wink.

“Hey, can you help with mine?” one of the boys asked, and Jean rolled his eyes.

“You’ll have to do it yourself every morning, get used to it. I only helped Yin because hers was tangled” he said, ignoring the other boy’s plea for help.

When Shadis gave the order for people to strap into the equipment and give it a try, Jean was the first in your group to go. As the wires stretched taut and his feet lifted off the ground, he wobbled a little, but managed to maintain his balance. His forehead was creased with concentration but he successfully shifted his weight, remaining upright for the full required minute. When he was set back down, the instructor checking your post gave him a nod of congratulations. “Good work.” Jean waved off the praise with a smirk.

By the time it came to your turn, you were feeling nervous. Jean was by far the best in your group; one of the girls, Mina, had managed to stay upright the whole time but only through an awkward amount of flailing around to keep her balance, and the boy who had asked for help putting on his gear hadn’t managed to stay up for more than ten seconds. It was clear he was afraid of being even a few inches above ground, and the instructor pulled him inside afterwards, sending him back to the dorms with his head hung down. So, it looked like people were already being culled. You couldn’t let that happen to you.

As the wires started to pull you up off the ground, you took a deep breath, dispelling your nerves and focusing solely on the feeling of how your body shifted in the air. Being held up by only two pinpoints connected to your hips was an odd feeling, and you started wobbling, clenching your muscles to try and redirect your weight. Swaying a little, you bit your lip in concentration, trying to keep your weight centered. There were a couple of close scrapes where your weight tilted too much to one side or the other, but you managed to stay calm and readjust yourself. It felt like hours before the instructor lowered you back down, giving you a slight nod to indicate you had passed. You sighed with relief. Using the ODM gear would take a lot of practice.

After an hour or so more of taking it in turns balancing on the wires, Shadis dismissed everyone for a brief lunch break. Not many cadets had been culled from the course this morning, but the crowd of people walking towards the mess hall still looked a little smaller. It could be even more diminished soon - Shadis had warned some of the cadets that they were on their last chance and needed to get to grips with the ODM gear by tomorrow if they wanted to stay. Among them, surprisingly, was Eren Yeager. Despite his big talk of killing every titan, he had barely managed to last a second on the equipment and was looking dejected. Your bunkmate Mikasa tried to comfort him, but he pushed her away in annoyance.

“Hey, you weren’t too bad today,” said Jean, falling into step beside you. “Not as good as me though,” he bragged.

“Yeah, yeah,” you laughed. “You may be good naturally, but we’ll see who comes out on top after practicing for a month.”

“Is that a challenge?” he said, raising an eyebrow. “You in for one of the Military Police spots too?”

You shook your head.

“Don’t tell me you’re headed for the suicide corps along with that maiac!” he exclaimed in dismay, jerking his head towards a gloomy Eren.

“No, I’m going to join the garrison,” you said, then changed the subject. “What happened with you and Eren yesterday? Did you fight?”

Jean rubbed the back of his neck, looking embarrassed. “Nah, I don’t understand him and his death wish, but we agreed to let it go. What’s it to me if he wants to get himself killed?”

“You still look kind of annoyed at him,” you pointed out.

Jean looked over to Eren, who was still talking with Mikasa, and his eyes darkened. “Yeah.” He didn’t seem inclined to elaborate, so you let it slide. Perhaps some healthy rivalry would be motivational, you wondered dubiously. Not that it looked like Eren would be around for long at this rate anyway.

“Anyway, sorry for getting distracted by that idiot yesterday,” Jean apologised, a little sheepishly. “We had been in the middle of a conversation, and then I almost get into a fight with someone else - pretty stupid, huh?”

“It’s okay,” you said, grateful for the apology.

“I can’t believe we’ve never met before if you used to come to the market,” Jean sighed. “Would have been nice to know someone else before joining up.”

“Well, you know me now,” you smiled brightly. It would have been a relief to you as well, not to have to enter this environment all on your own, but things were going better than you hoped. Mikasa, Sasha, Ymir, Krista...you had already made friends, even before a full day had passed. And Jean seemed nice too, despite being a little hot headed.

“Yeah,” he grinned in agreement, as you finally arrived at the mess hall from across the training grounds, letting you enter first. “I look forward to being friends with you, Yin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Thanks for continuing to read :)
> 
> I'm planning to update every Monday, although that may vary depending how bogged down I get with uni work. Find me on tumblr @inkbetweenthekeys for writing updates, I'd love to make friends!
> 
> Kudos and comments really make my day if you feel like leaving any!


	3. Military Police

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The cadets learn about the three branches of the military.

A couple of weeks had passed since you joined the cadets, and you began to settle into a steady routine. With some help from Mikasa nudging you awake, your body clock gradually adjusted to rising at the crack of dawn. It had taken a few days of practice, but you finally got the knack of quickly putting on your ODM harness each morning, leaving you enough time to speed down to the mess hall for some breakfast. 

The mornings were spent outside, and Shadis had you completing a wide range of exercises and activities to build up your skills. Running laps, powering through sit ups, learning to balance with the ODM gear - it was all tiring, relentless work that had your body shaking, but even within such a short period of time you felt stronger. There was not much sign of a physical change yet, but you were sure that before long you would start packing on muscle.

The afternoons varied - sometimes you would be doing chores around the main buildings, sometimes there would be small training missions, sometimes you were taught lessons inside, detailing the history of the Titans, strategic and scientific discovery, and more about the military itself. Today you were in one of the classrooms, listening to Instructor Barrow’s explanation of the three subdivisions of the military. He was a middle aged man with receding, sandy hair. You didn’t mind him - at least he didn’t yell when someone got an answer wrong in class, unlike Shadis would have done.

“The branch most of you will join is the Garrison,” he explained, sketching an image of a shield containing two flowers on the chalkboard. “Their role is to maintain order within the Walls. Members of the Garrison will have to deal with citizens and potentially Titans as well, so they have a broad range of responsibilities. For example, should any of you join the Garrison, your role could range from firing the cannons at approaching Titans, to crowd control in a riot.”

“Sounds boring,” someone muttered. You looked over to the person next to you to see Annie, barely paying attention, picking at a hangnail. You offered her a tentative smile but she rolled her eyes, so you turned back to Barrow, slightly annoyed. On your other side was Thomas, a cheerful guy that you had encountered a few times and had discovered was also from Trost district. He had obviously overheard Annie’s sulkiness as well and stifled a laugh at your irritated reaction.

“The second branch is the Scout Regiment, which is dedicated to protecting humanity,” Barrow continued. “The Scouts direct research into the Titans, and conduct exhibitions outside the Wall to attempt to regain our lost territory.”

The word ‘attempt’ hung heavily in the air. It was no secret that the majority of the scouts did not return from their first venture beyond the walls.

“Although this is a critical role in fighting back at the Titans, there are only a few hundred members in the Scout Regiment. We encourage anyone who shows proficiency with the ODM gear to consider joining,” Barrow said, looking around at all of you skeptically. Indeed, the only person who perked up at the mention of the scouts was Eren. A quiet determination was blazing in his eyes.

“The last branch, open only to the top ten graduates of each training squad, is the Military Police Brigade”. Glancing around, you noticed a lot of people sitting up straighter at the mention of the most exclusive job, including Jean, a couple of rows behind you. “The Military Police reside within Wall Sina, and are responsible for maintaining order, investigating crime, and supervising the Garrison and Training Corps. Any questions?”

A couple of hands raised. Barrow nodded to Marco.

“What can we do to improve our chances of getting into the top ten?” he asked, leaning forward eagerly.

“It's pretty straightforward,” Barrow shrugged. “Do your best on all the tests. Some people neglect the written exam but work on that as well. Show your instructors you can work well with others, make quick decisions, and put the effort in. If you’re determined enough, you can break the top ten with ease.”

A cacophony of whispers broke out among the class, people eagerly debating whether they could qualify for the military police. Barrow silenced the noise and continued the lesson, going into more detail about each branch, but as the class filed out afterwards it was clear that the military police remained at the forefront of most people’s minds.

In your hour of downtime before dinner, the cadets often sat around to chat in the mess hall. You took your usual spot next to Jean, who had become your firm friend. The two of you had taken to teaming up for all the paired tasks, though sometimes you wished he’d take some aspects of the training a bit more seriously. Hand to hand combat, for example, he had deemed unimportant and so you spent the lessons going through the motions, not really learning anything. It was funny to see him throw a deliberately slow punch at you and go staggering off to the side, but if you ever needed to fight someone in real life, you’d be screwed.

Sasha sat done on your other side, pulling her friend Connie over too. Most of the class, growing ever smaller as people were kicked out by Shadis, gathered around as well. Eren, Mikasa, and Armin sat slightly further away from the main group. Eren was talking animatedly and although you couldn’t hear what he was talking about, judging by his excitement it was about the new information they had learnt about the survey corps.

“So, who’s going for the military police?” Krista piped up.

“Why, you sizing up the competition?” Reiner said, smirking.

“Hey,” said Ymir, throwing an arm over Krista’s shoulders protectively. “If my Krista wants to join the MPs, she is more than capable of getting in, big guy.” Krista blushed a little but didn’t push Ymir away. That pair had grown particularly close in the past few weeks, you noted secretly with a smile.

“I heard that some people pull connections to get one of the spots,” Connie said worriedly. “I’m from a small village, I don’t know anyone in the interior!”

“Nah, what are you on about Connie?” Sasha argued. “If you’re the best then they can’t deny you a spot over some half-assed idiot with better credentials!”

“It’s a shame Connie’s a half-assed idiot with no credentials then,” Annie murmured, eliciting a squawk of rage from Connie.

“One of those spots has my name on it,” Jean declared, waving a hand around airily. “So just keep up with me, and you’ll get in.”

Ymir cuffed Jean round the head.

“Ow!” he cried, rubbing the back of his head resentfully. “What the hell was that for?”

“Seems it won’t be too hard to keep up with you if a simple knock round the head takes you out,” you laughed. Ymir shared a grin with you.

Jean turned to you and attacked, grabbing you around the waist and tickling you. “And look how easily I can disarm you,” he teased, as you let out choking breaths of laughter. You tried to wriggle away to escape but Sasha and Connie piled in as well, until the four of you ended up collapsed helplessly on the floor, weak from laughter. Your noisiness had drawn quite the crowd - even Eren and Mikasa had been distracted from their conversation to stare.

“Yeah, that’s exactly the kind of behaviour that will land you a spot with the military police,” Reiner rolled his eyes. “You lot are lucky Shadis isn’t around to see you.”

Jean quickly sat up, head whipping around to check your childish antics hadn’t been caught. You followed the direction of his gaze, noticing how it caught on Mikasa. His cheeks reddened slightly and he hastily got up from the floor, dusting himself off. Interesting. Did your friend have a little crush? As he offered a hand to help you up off the floor, you resolved to ask him about it later. Never mind the slight twinge in your stomach that occurred whenever Jean looked at you. You hastily pushed the thought away.

“So is everyone here going for the military police?” you asked. Some of them, like Ymir and Bertholdt, shrugged, still undecided. But there were definitely more than ten people who nodded in agreement. Tough competition for Jean, then. There was no use theorising who would secure the places at the moment though. Cadet training lasted several years, and anything could happen in that time. You were determined to make the most of your time here, with your friends. If Jean, Sasha, Krista, and whoever else joined the military police, you’d be unlikely to see them again stationed in the garrison. So you’d enjoy this time while you had it.

***

Sometimes after dinner, you and your friends would wander outside and sit to chat more outdoors, basking in the falling summer heat and the glow of the setting sun. Which rank to join was still on most people’s mind, and as the conversation continued along you mostly kept quiet, lost in thought. Therefore, you barely noticed when people started to head back in to go to bed, until it was just you and Jean left sitting outside.

“Hey, Yin,” Jean said, coming to sit down next to you and snapping you out of your reverie. “You’ve been pretty quiet, are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” you smiled. “Just thinking about the future, I guess.”

Jean kicked his boots across the ground, scuffing up dirt. “You’re going to join the garrison, right?”

You nodded confirmation.

“You know, you could get into the military police if you tried,” he said. “Why bother with the garrison when you can have an easier life inside the walls?”

“My reasons for joining the garrison aren’t so much that I care what they do, but more where they’re situated,” you explained. Jean watched you silently as you talked, rays of the setting sun catching in your hair. “My mother has been unwell these past couple of years. The doctors don’t think she will get better. She hasn’t been able to work, and we’ve had barely any money to live off.”

Jean’s brow furrowed in concern, but he allowed you to continue, bumping your knee slightly with his own to encourage you.

“I joined the cadets so she doesn’t have to worry about feeding me,” you told him. “If she’s very careful, by herself, she might be able to stretch her savings out across the next few years. The sickness is taking a while to progress, so I think she can get by, and one of her neighbours agreed to help her out if they can. Then, once we graduate I’ll join the garrison and put in a request to be stationed in Trost. That means I’ll be able to take care of her, and I can use my wages to support her as well.”

Jean sighed, and pulled you in close to affectionately ruffle your hair. You found yourself leaning into the touch. “Well, I can’t argue with that. You really love her, huh?”

“Yeah,” you grinned, as fond memories came rushing back, mostly from when she was still healthy. Repairing dresses with her for her job as a tailor before her fingers grew too stiff, telling stories late into the night, baking all sorts of cakes and goodies together whenever enough money was spare for ingredients. Even visiting the market together when you were a child - perhaps she had seen Jean before. The thought made you smile. “It’s just us against the world.”

“No father?” Jean questioned, eyebrows raised.

You shook your head. “He died when I was a baby. I don’t remember him, so it’s not so bad.”

“I don’t really see my father much. He trades in the inner district so he’s away a lot,” Jean told you with a shrug.

“And you wish your mother would be away more,” you teased. Over the past few weeks you had gotten used to Jean’s rants about his pushy mother who was ‘way too in his business’. You reckoned she was probably lovely and Jean was just a typical teenage boy, embarrassed by his mother’s affection, but of course you didn’t say a word of that aloud to him, nodding along vigorously whenever he moaned.

“Anyway, Jean, I think there’s something you’re not telling me,” you said, in a light-hearted voice. “We’re friends, right? So you should really tell me all of your secrets.”

Jean snorted. “Yeah right, you’re nosy just like my mother sometimes.”

You brushed him off, and got straight to the point. “Did I see you blushing at Mikasa earlier?”

He gave himself away by reddening again, and you bit your lip to stifle a laugh. Despite his cocky, aggressive attitude, Jean was really a big softie. “Was it really obvious?” he whispered, the tips of his ears burning with embarrassment.

You looked away from him to stare out across the grounds. The sun had finally fallen below the horizon and the sky had become dark enough to see the first glimmer of twinkling stars. Breathtaking.

“Only to me,” you said. “I just happened to look over. I don’t think anyone else noticed.”

He released a sigh of relief, but seemed hesitant as to what to say. Maybe he felt awkward talking to you about it because you were a girl, you wondered. You hadn’t had any close male friends before and you weren’t sure if this kind of talk was normal. But luckily Jean broke the silence. “Has she...ever said anything about me?”

“Well...she’s kind of focused on Eren,” you said, not wanting to hide the truth. But seeing Jean’s face drop, you continued, “I don’t know that that’s definitely a romantic thing though. They’re kind of like family.”

“Stupid Eren,” Jean said glumly.

“So this explains why you hate him, then.”

“It’s not just that. Everything he does is frustrating to me,” Jean grumbled, a frown on his face. “He just expects everyone to be willing to die to save humanity, and if not, then they must be a selfish prick in his eyes. Maybe I am selfish, but what’s the point of dying for humanity if I’m not there to see it survive?”

“Listen, don’t bother about Eren,” you told him, standing up and stretching, your legs going stiff from sitting for so long. “We’re going to be training for three years. That’s plenty of time to show Mikasa what she’s missing out on, right? Honestly, she’d be crazy to choose Eren over you.” Inwardly you winced a little, wary that perhaps you had said too much. But he laughed, and accepted your outstretched hand, helping to pull him up.

He slung a friendly arm over your shoulder as you walked back inside. “What would I do without a friend like you, huh?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jean having a crush on Mikasa when Yin is right there??? Smh. The road to love is never easy!
> 
> Thank you for continuing to read!


	4. Hunter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The cadets are sent on an endurance test.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CONTENT WARNING: Violence and threat, strong language, reference to child trafficking.

“Nice day for it,” Sasha muttered under her breath, shivering under the bite of the wind as you both hoisted on your packs. This was day one of your first real endurance test since joining the cadets. Shadis and the other instructors stalked through the small groups of cadets, barking orders.

You looked around your surroundings, taking in any information that might be of use to you. Tall trees spanned out in every direction, blocking out much of the grey sky. It had been raining on and off all morning, and the air was thick with mist. The task you had been set was to traverse the thirty mile distance from the drop off point to a location pinpointed on a map you had been provided with, before sundown the following day. The pack you had been provided with held a sleeping bag, limited supplies of food and water, the map, and other navigational and survival tools. A tent had also been provided for your group, and you divided up the poles, hooks, and fabric between you. Apparently, the point of the exercise was to simulate the distance you might have to travel if you ever got stranded beyond the walls without a horse. Although you wouldn’t have all these supplies with you out there, the pack was similar in weight to the ODM gear and used to recreate the effect of walking for hours in the heavy equipment. 

As soon as the wagons had dropped everyone here, Shadis had divided everyone up into teams of four. You were reasonably happy with your teammates, Sasha, Armin, and Thomas. Thomas had strength, Armin had brains, Sasha was good at navigating and you...well, you weren’t quite sure what your strength was yet.

Jean had been put in the same team as Mikasa, and he gave you a sneaky thumbs up as he walked over to her. You returned the gesture, pulling up a smile that dropped as soon as he looked away. You didn’t like the feeling that settled in your stomach when you thought of the pair of them together. 

The way you felt around Jean was confusing to you. Back home in Trost, you had been so busy caring for your mother and helping around the house that you had never had real friends, at least not in the way that you were close to some of your fellow trainees. It was probably natural to develop tight bonds quickly when you were living together, constantly putting your lives on the line during training. Trust and friendship with your comrades was essential. But something was different with Jean. The way your stomach fluttered when he turned that smile your way, that jolting sensation you felt as he looked directly into your eyes when you talked...you had never gotten that feeling from any of the other cadets. Was it just because Jean was your best friend, who you felt the most comfortable with? But then what was the pang of jealousy that struck as he walked over to Mikasa?

Miserable and confused by your feelings, you turned back to your team. Armin had the map stretched out across the ground, and you knelt down beside him to look over his shoulder.

“This looks like the most direct path,” he said, tracing one finger lightly across the yellowed paper. You followed the line he pointed out, along the left of the page.

“It’s the shortest route,” you agreed, “But look here.” You pointed at the small dotted circles marked on the map, symbols you recognised from one of your classes. “We’d have to walk several miles over this rocky surface. It’s probably uneven, we might even have to climb.”

“Which wouldn’t be easy with these packs on,” Armin nodded. “We’d probably lose a lot of time. What do you think of this, instead?” This time his finger traced a winding line across the page. “The distance is longer but this path stays through the forest the whole time. We’d be sheltered from the worst of the elements and the terrain is flat.” He pointed out a small break in the treeline, about halfway through the route. “There should be a small clearing here, it might make a good place to set up camp tonight.”

“Sounds good to me,” you said. “Great job, Armin.” You noticed he blushed slightly at the praise and you fought to hide your smile. Armin always seemed to underestimate his own skills.

Armin explained the plan to Sasha and Thomas while you checked over inventory one last time. Many of the groups were beginning to head off, the majority of them in the direction Armin had initially suggested. Heavy droplets of rain began to fall from the sky again, and you tugged your cloak close around you as the four of you headed into the forest.

After walking for about ten minutes, you began to grow uncomfortable. The pack was heavy, beginning to chafe at your shoulders, and the ground had turned into squelchy mud due to the rainfall. But it was still better than trying to clamber over slippery rocks, you reckoned. The voices from the instructors and the other groups had faded, and apart from the odd birdcall the forest remained mostly silent, wind coaxing rustles from the leaves of the trees.

You and Thomas fell into step together, walking side by side. “This is so boring,” he sighed. “I didn’t sign up to the cadets just to go hiking.”

“Oh, stop complaining,” Sasha told him cheerfully. “Just look on the bright side, we don’t have to deal with Shadis’ mood swings for the next two days.”

“Mood swings?” you asked doubtfully. “What does he swing from - angry to livid?”

“I like the forest,” Sasha decided. “It reminds me of home.”

“Oh - you’re from Dauper, aren’t you?” Armin said. All you knew of the place was that it was a small village near the south of Wall Rose.

She nodded, a faraway shine in her eyes. “I miss it, all the time. There’s nothing as exciting as tracking a beast through the forest, the freshest meat out in the wild.” You were sure your eyes were deceiving you - surely Sasha wasn’t drooling?

“Well, if you feel like it you could always try hunting here when we set up camp,” Thomas suggested. “The instructors were pretty stingy with the food rations.”

“Oh, that’s a great idea!” Sasha exclaimed, picking up pace as if she was eager to get to your chosen campsite as soon as possible. You hastened to keep up with her. “I’ll teach you all how to hunt too, you never know when it will come in handy!”

“I don’t know how much luck you’ll have with us townies,” you laughed. “Thomas and I are both from Trost, I had never even seen a forest until I started training.”

“Quite a few people are here from Trost,” Armin said thoughtfully. “Any particular reason, you think?”

You shrugged. “Maybe we’re just more aware of the Titans, being to the south. The garrison has a pretty large cohort there as well, compared to the northern regions, so I guess it seems an obvious career choice.”

Armin looked lost in thought, resulting in him almost tripping over a spiky branch that had fallen from one of the trees. “Isn’t it odd that the Titans are so congregated to the south? Some of them wander around the walls, but the vast majority come from the same direction. Even before Shiganshina fell,” he trailed off sadly.

It was pretty weird, now he mentioned it, but did anything about the Titans make sense? You’d learn what was required in your classes, their basic anatomy and some of the experiments that had been conducted, but you sincerely hoped never to face one in combat. Leave the theorising to the survey corps.

***

Your group reached your camp spot in good time, towards late afternoon. Another blessing was sent with the rain finally letting up for good, the sun tentatively poking its head through the clouds. After consulting the map to double check you were in the right spot, you let your pack fall from your shoulders with a groan of relief.

You were in a small clearing, the trees still close enough to provide decent cover. The wind must have blown through here heavily earlier, as the ground was covered in leaves, slick from the rain. Luckily they had sheltered the dirt underneath from getting too muddy. You used the side of one of your boots to scrape the leaves to a pile, leaving mostly dry ground underneath.

“We can pitch the tent here,” you told the others, happy that you wouldn’t have to scrabble around in sticky mud to set it up.

You got the tent set up quickly. It was a dull green colour, blending into the trees. As you poked your head inside you realised it wasn’t particularly big; the four of you would have to sleep pressed up against each other. Would Jean be sleeping next to Mikasa in their tent, tucked up together? You shook the thought from your head. It wasn’t any of your business, and you needed to focus on your own group.

Armin decided the next priority was to get a fire started. After sunset, the low winds still echoing through the forest would only be even more cold, so it would be good to have a source of warmth. Additionally, a fire would hopefully ward off any wild animals that may be roaming around.

The ground was littered with logs and bracken but it was all damp after the rainfall. Armin, resourceful as ever, suggested using the pocket knives you had been provided with to scrape off the outermost bark and try to make use of the dryer, inner wood. You were collecting a bundle of sticks under your arm when Sasha froze, eyes darting around in concentration.

“What is it?” you asked in a low voice, panicked by her expression.

“Scuffles nearby,” she answered. “There’s an animal, not too far. Sounds fairly large.”

Your immediate reaction was to freak out (what if it was a wolf?) but Sasha looked excited. “You wanted to try hunting, right? This could be tonight’s meal! Meat!” She was practically salivating.

The only weapons you had on you were the little pocket knives and even the temptation of fresh meat paled in comparison to the thought of a great wolf or bear lunging at you. But then again, Sasha was your friend, and you trusted her. With all her hunting experience, she would know how to approach the situation. As long as her mind didn’t get befuddled by the promise of a hearty meal, that was.

“Why don’t you two go, and we’ll try to have the fire up and ready by the time you’re back?” Armin suggested. “Then we can cook whatever you find.”

You looked over at Sasha, bouncing up and down on her toes with anticipation, and your heart gave in. Clutching your knife, you gave her a resolute nod.

The pair of you stalked out of the camp, treading carefully. Sasha’s senses detected the creature was a distance away, but it never hurt to be careful. She whispered some instructions, how to adjust your stance if the animal saw you, the best way to kill it painlessly and quickly. None of it did anything to quell the nerves rushing through you. Hopefully she would take charge and you could help from the sidelines.

Suddenly Sasha stopped, lifting a hand to indicate you should do the same. You thought you could hear something now too, snuffling around and snapping some of the twigs on the forest floor. You peeked past the densely clustered trees, and caught a glimpse of something moving.

“A boar, I think,” Sasha mused. “Hmm.”

“Is that good or bad?” you questioned anxiously.

“It’s great, boar meat is delicious!” said Sasha, even though that wasn’t what you’d meant. Carefully, she laid out the plans for how you’d take it down.

A few minutes later, you were approaching the boar, circling to its rear. You were careful to keep your tread light; it was important it didn’t realise your presence until the last minute. Some metres away, Sasha was crawling up a tree, poised and in position.

When you were still a decent distance but close enough for the boar to see you, you let out a low whistle, just as Sasha had instructed. It turned around instantly, breath huffing in angry little pants. Its fur was a dirty brown, matted with dirt, and its black eyes squinted dangerously. You took a gulp but stood your ground, tilting your chin up and setting your feet into a wide, intimidating stance.

This was the gamble, the moment where things could go terribly wrong. The boar might simply run off or ignore you, in which case you would at least be safe. But Sasha had something a bit more risky planned, and it looked as if it were succeeding. This was the boar’s territory, and the appearance of some cocky human obviously wasn’t welcome. Its hooves started pawing at the ground, kicking up dirt. One kick from those could be enough to break bone, you imagined. Yet you stood still, looking into its eyes. A challenge, or rather, a bait.

The boar took it, its anger rising, and started charging towards you. You hesitated for as long as possible before flinging yourself to the side and starting to run for dear life, straight past the tree where Sasha was waiting. You kept running as you heard a whoop echo and a grunt from the boar, the steady thump of its hooves against the ground disrupted. It gave a startled squeal and you ceased your pace slightly, looking behind you to see that Sasha had landed atop the boar and was clinging on desperately. She didn’t look scared, in fact, there was a huge grin on her face as she flicked the knife and sank it straight down into the base of the great beast’s neck. It gave a final heavy grunt, before collapsing to the ground, Sasha throwing herself clear so as to not accidentally get trapped beneath it.

“Wow,” you said shakily, walking over to her as she dusted herself off. “It worked.”

She clapped your shoulder. “Great work, Yin! I told you, once it felt threatened it would be too distracted to notice me, and then I could ambush it.”

“You were incredible,” you admitted, a new respect for your comrade flowing through you.

“I was pretty impressed by how you snuck up in it,” Sasha complimented you in return. “Not many hunters can get that close without being noticed.” She stepped back up to the felled animal and pulled her knife from the wound, wiping the blood off on its fur. It looked smaller, crumpled on the ground, and a surge of pity welled up inside you.

“Thank you for your noble sacrifice. We will savour the meal you provide us as you continue the natural cycle of life,” Sasha said solemnly, and you echoed her words.

“Right, how do we get it back to camp?” you asked. “I’m not sure if the two of us can carry it.”

“I think the packs had some rope,” Sasha said. “If you go back and get a length of it, we can tie it to a log and that will make it easier to move. Bring Thomas with you as well, he’ll be able to help lift it. I’ll stay here so no little scavengers come and take it from us.”

Obediently you walked back the way you had come, stomach rumbling in anticipation. Meat, cooked over an open fire...now you were starting to salivate like Sasha. Meat was a rarity back home, too expensive to buy with any regularity, and the food provided for cadets was decent but tended to be from older domestic animals, a bit tough and chewy. The best quality went straight to the interior, of course. So this would be a rare treat, earned from your own efforts. Despite the exerting day, a tired smile crept up on your face.

An amber haze flickered through the trees - Armin and Thomas must have got a fire going. Even better! Ready to regale them with news of your accomplishments, you hurried forward, before stopping dead in your tracks. A deep male voice, unfamiliar to you, was spouting a string of angry curse words. Creeping closer, you pressed yourself to the back of a leafy tree, and peeped around.

Three men were gathered in your camp. One was on his knees, rooting around your tent, his backside sticking out unattractively. The second was tossing the contents of your packs on the ground, spilling the length of rope you had come back for into a heap of other tools. He was a stocky, mean looking man, and he was the one the curses were coming from.

The third was standing slightly apart, his body tense. He turned to the side to talk to his angry friend, and you let out a gasp.

He had Armin wrapped closely in his grip, a muscled arm tight around his waist and a knife pressed to his throat. Armin was white with fear, and you could see him shaking.

But where was Thomas? You flitted soundlessly to another tree and peered around again. From this view, you could now see someone slumped on the ground. Thomas! Blood was leaking from his forehead and his eyes were closed. He wasn’t moving. Was he unconscious, or…

No, the thought was too terrible. He was unconscious, you decided, and you needed to do something right now, before Armin ended up the same way.

“Fucking ridiculous,” the stout guy was swearing. “We manage to catch a group of cadets and they don’t have ODM gear on them? It's bullshit, where are you hiding it?” He spat at Armin.

“I told you, we’re on an endurance test,” Armin said, his voice surprisingly calm despite the peril he was in. “We don’t have our ODM gear, it was irrelevant to the task. You can take anything else here, but we don’t have it.”

“As if this bunch of shit is worth anything compared to gear,” the aggressor said, kicking the now emptied packs on the ground.

So these men were likely local ruffians, looking for some cash. Perhaps they heard there would be a cadet mission nearby and decided to try their luck, not knowing the reason for the expedition. Hopefully this meant they weren’t killers, not that you wanted to find out either way.

“Be careful Rufus, there were four packs, that means there are two more of them somewhere,” the one holding Armin said, scanning the forest warily. His gaze turned in your direction and you ducked back behind the tree, heart hammering out of control. Had he seen you? Surely not. You waited ten seconds before daring to look around again, but fortunately he hadn’t seemed to notice anything amiss.

The man looking through the tent crawled back out and fumbled his way back up to a standing position. One side of his face was marred with a shiny purple bruise, and he rubbed it tenderly. “Don’t tell me we done all this fer nuthin,” he said, in an accented drawl. He gave Thomas’ prone body a vengeful kick, and anger surged up inside you. “This ‘un got a decent punch in, I’ll be feelin’ that fer days.”

“Say, this one’s got a nice face,” said Rufus, walking over to Armin and squeezing his jaw with one hand. Armin stared back silently, the flames from the fire casting strange shadows upon his face. Rufus seemed to ponder for a minute. “We could sell them. Some people pay more for kids than for ODM gear, you know.”

The one holding Armin, who seemed to be the boss, looked uncomfortable. “I don’t like to get mixed up in that business. Selling gear is one thing, but kids…”

This was rapidly spiralling out of control. There were two options - you could either go to find Sasha, and try to take the three men down together. This was a safer option, but you’d have to trust the men would still be here when you came back, not taking off with Armin in tow in the meantime. Or you could make a stand, here and now, before anything terrible happened. Of course, the thought of taking three grown men down by yourself with only a pocket knife was a daunting prospect, but it was time you had put all your training to good use.

“Who are the other two wit’ ya?” the ugly man asked Armin, as you began to walk round the camp, using the trees as cover. “Boys or girls?”

“Two boys,” Armin gasped out, the knife tight against his throat. He was directly in your line of sight now, but didn’t spot you as you exited the tree line into the clearing. Both Rufus and the ugly man had their backs to you, and their leader was glaring down at Armin in his grasp. Sasha had complimented your on your stealth against the boar, but this would be your real test, making your way light-footed through crackly leaves and sticks ready to snap.

“He’s lying,” the leader said, disdain in his voice. “Maybe you’re right Rufus. We can’t leave empty handed. That one on the ground is too much of a fighter, but pretty boys like this are worth a price. Two girls as well...we could fetch a decent profit.”

“They can’t be far,” the ugly one sneered. “Want me to go hunt ‘em down?”

“No need,” you said, wrapping an arm around his neck and tugging him down before he could react, angling the knife against his throat. “The only hunter here is me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DUN DUN DUN! I was going to have the whole two day endurance walk as one chapter, but it would have ended up being pretty long so I've cut it in half, hence the cliffhanger. Unfortunately that meant there wasn't much Jean content in this chapter but don't worry, you'll see him again in the next chapter.
> 
> Thank you for continuing to read! Kudos and comments are always appreciated :)


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